Disclaimer: Not Mine

The Arrangement

Chapter 2

Severus woke alone the next morning and turned over to see her side of the bed again unused. He sighed and wearily shook his head. He was a man used to solitude and quiet, one that did not like to share, not his time or his life and wondered for just a moment why he was feeling differently now. He did not like where the Ministry was leading them. He could not fathom why there was not more protest and why the Muggle born wizards and witches were not leaving this world. More, he did not understand why she would resist him over this, knowing the alternative.

The first of the Muggle Born Work Laws put into affect was to help the pure and mixed bloods to gain employment, or so they said. Some of the pure bloods made a case that Muggles who came here to live took high paying jobs from needy wizards. The Ministry, with the backing of the Dark Lords minions, quickly passed the law prohibiting Muggles and then the Muggle born witches from working for a wage.

After that, the changes were small, but insidious. Muggle born witches, no longer allowed in public without a spouse, were to stay out of sight. If a witch were unmarried, she had to rely of whomever she knew to shop and do errands for her. An unmarried Muggle born witch no longer could legally visit others, or walk the pavement in the Wizarding World. The Ministry sited cases of loose witches corrupting the morals of the youth and teaching Muggle ways.

Claiming that the incidence of squib births was on the raise, the Ministry assigned Muggle born witches marriages to increase births. The Aurors collected these witches, and held them until their assigned spouses came for them. The wizards, forced to marry the witches, had then taken them home or face the same fate. That or Azkaban.

Severus had gone for Anne, his assigned witch, and paid her fines for being in public and did as the Ministry required. He scowled at her and berated her stupidity for not leaving this world when she could as he led her to what was now their home. The Dark Lord had selected her to help with his potion making, not knowing the witch would refuse to help, or that Severus would not ask.

Severus cursed now as he dressed. Anne could no more corrupt the morals of the youth than she could bring down Voldemort single-handed. She was a capable and intelligent witch. This was only part of the cleansing the Dark Lord had in mind. Much more would come, this he knew, it had only started.

He walked downstairs and looked for her in the kitchen. Not finding her, he found instead his breakfast on the table, a cup of tea and the Daily Prophet next to his plate. He sat down thankful for the quiet, and began eating as he reached for the paper.

He picked up the paper and heard something metallic slide off the table to the floor. He looked down and saw her Gringotts key. Reading the paper quickly he saw the article at the bottom of the first page. A Muggle born witch could no longer have her own bank account. All monies in question were hereby transferred to the husband's account.

"Shite," he muttered aloud, knowing that she would be in another snit when he got back this evening, and glanced up to the shelf that held the plates wondering if any would remain.

Severus apparated in front of the Hogwarts gate and started up the path to the main doors. He was looking forward to term starting. He would only have to deal with her two days a week after that, and if Albus scheduled him for nighttime patrols on weekends, he would see her even less.

Going straight to his lab, he began brewing. Madam Pomfrey still needed to fill her stores, and he needed to keep busy. The longer he could stay at Hogwarts, the less time he had to be with her. He thought to eat a big lunch in the Great Hall in case his plate landed in the bin again.

He spent the day in solitude, losing himself in the simple pleasures of chopping and measuring, at times wondering if she would ever consent to do this at his side. He was not able to forget about the house in Hogsmeade, or that she waited there for him knowing that he may not return but spend the night elsewhere as he had done in the past. He looked at the clock realizing it was almost time to return, and again found he had missed lunch.

"Severus? Albus stood in the door stroking his beard. "I am surprised to see you here. We still have over a month before term starts, surly some of this can wait."

"I find I have extra time, Headmaster."

"You have not brought your wife for us to meet," Albus said, watching Severus carefully. "Perhaps she would like to join us tomorrow. She and Minerva can visit while you brew."

"She is busy. She does not have time for foolishness."

"I shall pass along a suggestion to Minerva that she will have to visit her in Hogsmeade." Albus started to leave.

"She cannot." Severus put two fingers on the bridge of his nose. "There were two laws passed yesterday. The first takes away her right to have her own funds. The second takes away her right to have guests unless I am present."

"Severus, this is temporary." Albus stood shaking his head sadly. "When this war is over things will go back to normal. In the mean time you must bring her here with you."

"She will not come," he said, turning to the Headmaster. "She will not leave the house with me. She is… fearful."

"Fearful?" Albus narrowed his eyes at Severus. "What does she have to be fearful of?"

"Have you forgotten that as far as she knows I am a Death Eater? Voldemort gets his laws passed and gives us witches, is it any wonder she sees me as part of the cause?"

"What have you done to put her mind at ease?"

"Nothing," Severus said as he picked up his robes. "She can not abide the sight of me. She is happier when not in my company."

"Will she join you here during term?" Albus scowled at Severus's dismissal of the witch. "I will have modifications made to your quarters."

"No, I will not have her here. She has the house, what more could she want?"

"Perhaps some kindness," the Headmaster mused.

"She is difficult. You have no idea how difficult that witch can be."

"Difficult? You are lucky if that is all she is. If I were to lose my life as she has I would be more than difficult."

"She put up with it," Severus spat. "She and all the others like her just sat and waited for it to come."

"They had no choice. Either they left it behind or had it taken from them. Either way they lost."

Severus turned away from Albus, not wanting to get into a discussion the old man so obviously did not understand. It was easy to sit back to say it would get better, that he should be kind, and to hint that he should enjoy the situation. Severus left the dungeons and headed home.

He apparated into the back yard of the small Hogsmeade house that they shared, walking up to the back door he paused and took a deep breath before pulling the door open. He did not see her in the kitchen, but as she had promised, a plate of dinner sat on the table. He sat down and ate quickly listening for her movements coming from the other rooms.

He did not hear her. When he finished eating, he went into the sitting room expecting to find her there. She had cleaned the room, filled the dishes with fresh flowers, and set a fire glowing in the fireplace. Feeling uncomfortable at not seeing her in her usual chair pretending to read a book, he checked his study.

She had set out fresh parchment, and sharpened his quills. His slippers were on the floor next to his reading chair, and a tin of his favourite biscuits sat on the table next to it. He sat at his desk, pulled out the household receipts, and proceeded to balance his now much larger Gringotts accounts. He made neat columns of numbers, separating her funds from his, refusing to accept her savings.

He still had not heard any noise from her, or any footfalls from the upper floors. Standing up he uttered a soft 'Nox' and turned off the lights before climbing the stairs for bed, hoping she was already asleep.

She had turned back the bed, set out his nightclothes, as well as a clean set of robes for the next day. She, however, was nowhere he could see.

Fine, he thought, let her play her games.

He could not sleep. He was not worried about her, he told himself, as he was sure she was in the empty room down the hall that was to be the nursery, if the Ministry rules meant anything. He had never known her to go into that room. Nevertheless, he knew she went there now because she wanted to keep her distance. This was a small house, and that the only extra space they had. He thought it fitting that the witch afraid to come to him in bed would hide in the future nursery.

He lay for over an hour unable to fall asleep. He finally gave up and threw the blanket off cursing that he now had to find her. She was being sullen, inconsiderate, and took delight in ruining his sleep, he thought. He strode down the hallway and slammed the door open to the room he knew she was in.

She was on her knees, her head on the windowsill looking outside. In her hand, she held crumpled papers. She turned to him slowly. Her face was tear streaked and her eyes swollen. She still wore the nightgown she had on the previous night.

"I am sorry, Sir," she said softly, without a hint of anger, sounding far away. "Did I forget something? Is there something you need?"

"Anne?" he said walking to her and squatting down to put his eyes level with hers. "What happened?"

"I have nothing left," she said as fresh tears ran down her face. "He has taken everything from me today. I … they… I am alone."

Severus pried her fingers away form the parchment she held and stood to hold them in the light from the hallway to see it better. He looked back at her as she wrapped her arms around her waist and rocked back and forth.

The Ministry was very sorry to inform her that her parents were dead. Since they were not sure how to contact her, the Ministry had already disposed of the bodies. They would send the bill for their final expenses and burial to her husband.

Severus looked back at her. He ran his fingers through his hair not knowing what to do. He flipped to the second sheet of parchment, crumbled it back up, and threw it against the wall. The Daily Prophet had found it a courtesy to send her an advance copy of tomorrow's morning paper. It showed her parents home with the Dark Mark in the sky.

He walked over to her and bent to scoop her up and carry her to bed. As soon as he touched her she began crawling back, crablike to get away form him.

"Anne," he said softy. "I will not hurt you."

"Did you know?" She crawled further back. "Were you there?"

He felt as if she had slapped him. He stood up and stepped back from her. She was looking up at him trembling. He saw her eyes pleading with him to tell her that he did not know, to lie to her if he had to, to show some kindness.

Walking back close to her he squatted down again and put one hand under her chin.

"I had no knowledge of this," he said truthfully. "I knew Muggles were being targeted, but I thought they would be safe, after all they had left this world. Believe me. I did not know this was planned."

"It happened yesterday, when you were out. I thought maybe…" She looked up to him. "I didn't get to see them, now they are gone. How can someone do this? I should have been with them. I should have done something. If I had gone with them maybe they would have been safe."

"Don't," he said, reaching down and picking her up. "You would have been killed as well. There is nothing you could have done."

She put her arms around his neck and held on to him, crying into his neck. He had not realized how much weight she had lost until he picked her up. He remembered last night, as the strap on the nightgown had slipped, how it no longer clung to her as it had. He frowned as the carried her and lie her down on the bed.

"It is fine, I will sleep downstairs tonight," he said.

"Severus?" She looked at him through a blur of tears. "When will it end? I can't breathe much longer, when will it end?"

He could only look at her and shake his head. Then leaving her alone he closed the door softly and went downstairs to sleep on the sofa pretending, that he did not hear her sobs.